Analyzing the evolution of agricultural research and development policy in South Africa is a fascinating but difficult task, primarily because of the large number of structural, institutional, and political changes that took place during the 20th century. This chapter tracks the history of South Africa's agricultural research and development system against this background, highlighting changes over the past 20 years. Such changes have enabled better documentation of public spending on R&D and assessments of changes in the methods by which those funds are disbursed. ; PR ; IFPRI1; Pro-poor science and technology policies; Public Policy and Investment ; ISNAR
This South African Agricultural Public Expenditure Review (AgPer) is one of a series of similar studies undertaken in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa under the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) of the African Union's (AU) New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) which encourages governments and development partners (DPs) to target public expenditure on the agriculture sector as the most effective way of stimulating growth. The overall purpose of the budget tracking and public expenditure review is to provide recommendations to address budgetary planning, budget execution, and accountability in the agricultural sector, the creation of a reliable data base, and more effective intra- and inter-sectoral coordination. It is also aimed at stimulating increased resource allocations and to enhance the harmonization and alignment of resources around national and provincial priorities in the agricultural sector. The report aims to produce the following outputs: foundation data set for understanding reflecting the COFOG and South African nomenclature in budgeting; synthesis of the level, composition and quality of budget; and recommendations for enhancement of the budget tracking process.
Addressing the multiple challenges facing global agriculture requires integrated innovation in areas such as seeds, biotechnology, crop protection, grain storage and transport. Innovations related to plant improvement and the development of new or improved plant varieties will only happen at an optimal level if plant breeders' rights (PBR) are properly protected. The objective was to analyse the evolving landscape of wheat plant breeders' rights to address the dearth of empirical evidence of the patterns and trends of wheat varietal improvements in South Africa. We compiled a detailed and novel count and attribute database of wheat varietal innovations in South Africa from 1979 to 2013 using various sources. This data set was then analysed to ascertain the main trends in, and ownership of PBRs for wheat varietal improvements in South Africa over this period. A total of 134 PBR wheat varietal innovations were lodged from 1979 to 2013, an average of 6 applications per year. The administrative delays in granting PBR applications were substantially reduced by 77 days during the post-deregulation period (after 1996), indicating increased efficiency. The main PBR applicants were Sensako (39%), the Agricultural Research Council Small Grains Institute (ARC-SGI) (25%) and Pannar (15%). The ARC-SGI contributed to some of the PBRs owned by private companies through shared genetic resources before Plant Variety Protection (PVP) was implemented. Future innovations and dissemination of wheat innovations can be stimulated by plant variety protection, together with broader variety sector legislation that encourages both public and private sector investment. ; The paper is part of the PhD research by Charity R. Nhemachena on: 'Biological innovations in South African agriculture: A study of wheat varietal change, 1950–2013'. ; The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant to the University of Pretoria's Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development. ; http://www.sajs.co.za ; am2016 ; Agricultural Economics, ...
